Confused on what I should and should not be doing.

Hi Cowgal - sorry that your post got overlooked.  There are several of us "swell sisters" with lymphedema who exercise posting in this section.  I hear you about the weight gain many of us experience with treatment!   Pretty sneaky that ooph surgeon attaching a roll to your belly! 

First, get clearance from all your doctors to begin exercising.  Once you have that, then you can begin. 

Since you have lymphedema, you are smart to be concerned about yoga moves like downward dog and others that put a strain on the arm.  Your LE therapist should be able to give you some guidelines about upper body exercises, but in general the rule when you start upper body exercises when you have LE is to start SLOWLY, and if you feel any kind of heaviness, or other signs of LE, stop.  

What do you like to do?  Aquatics exercises are wonderful!  We have several gals who are into zumba.  I jog, do yoga (avoiding poses that stress the upper arm), Pilates, walk, and swim.  Others love spin class, some do various exercise tapes.  Check out the Let's Post Our Daily Exercise thread - it's a great group of gals who are at all stages of treatment and fitness - some are still in active treatment, while others of us are years out of active treatment.  We all do what we are able to do, and encourage the others.  We pass along training tips, tips about good workout videos, etc.  

I am a fitness professional and am also dealing with BC.  I can't recommend things to you specifically but I would suggest seeing if your local cancer center has fitness classes there.  I know in that setting instructors will be more familiar with our challenges and know our limitations.  YOu may also see if locally there are any personal trainers that deal with BMX patients - I know our cancer center here has some.  Even if you don't meet with a personal trainer weekly, they could design a workout for you and get you started. For me I am back to teaching aerobics, running, elliptical and weight training except I don't do too much for my chest as I have implants now and it just feels really odd.  I do weights though for the rest of my upper body.  Good luck!

I've been back and forth with this question since the surgery for my original diagnosis more than 5 years ago.   Walking,dancing, etc., were all fine, but I miss using my arms - the scare/fear/threat of lymphedema, along with the absence of  info (I'm a fitness instructor as well as a survivor, and haven't been able to get consistent info in either hat) has left me feeling kinda lost.  I had a mild case of ME earlier this summer for the first time, so I'm twice as nervous now.  My water aerobics class was cancelled last winter, and I couldn't start again this spring - I had surgery for recurrance in May and pneumonia in July, so I've been feeling particularly sluggish. . . and I really don't like that I can't be active-at-will anymore!

I just started working with a personal trainer who specializes in folks who've previously had physical therapy. In the weight room, we're concentrating on my trunk and torso together, along with a (gentle) cardio program to help get my energy back after the most recent rounds of chemo. On my own, I'm going back to doing the shoulder and arm work I did in physical therapy a few years back, and I've found a yoga class for survivors that I'm trying to get to.  

My think my biggest mistake before was I stopped exercising at all, 'cause everyone had me so spooked about LE after my mastectomy.  The "big" study that said that exercise is ok came out a few months afterwards.

In hindsight, I wish that I would have started moving more frequently sooner after surgery (especially the cardio - long walks, cardio machines at the gym, no LE risk there!), and picked up some 1 or 2 lb weights way back then, before my muscles got comfy doing nothing . . .  

Good luck!